TY - JOUR
T1 - Synthesis and evaluation of nucleoside radiotracers for imaging proliferation
AU - Smith, Graham
AU - Sala, Roberta
AU - Carroll, Laurence
AU - Behan, Kevin
AU - Glaser, Matthias
AU - Robins, Edward
AU - Nguyen, Quang Dé
AU - Aboagye, Eric O.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding provided by CR-UK&EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre at Imperial College, London , in association with the MRC and Department of Health (England) grant C2536/A10337 and UK Medical Research Council core funding grant U.1200.02.005.00001.01 . Dr. Harold Toms, Queen Mary and Westfield College, is thanked for NMR assistance. The EPSRC National Mass Spectrometry Service (Swansea) is also gratefully acknowledged.
PY - 2012/7
Y1 - 2012/7
N2 - Introduction: Uncontrolled proliferation is a fundamental characteristic of cancer, and consequently, imaging of tumor proliferative status finds interest clinically both as a diagnostic tool and for evaluation of response to treatment. Positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers based on a nucleoside core, such as 3'-[18F]fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine ([18F]FLT), have been extensively studied for this purpose. However, [18F]FLT suffers from poor DNA incorporation leading to occasional poor correlation of [18F]FLT tumor uptake with other proliferation indicators such as Ki-67 immunostaining. Methods: N3-((1-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-1H-[1,2,3]-triazol-4-yl)methyl)thymidine ([18F]2) and N3-((1-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-1H-[1,2,3]-triazol-4-yl)methyl)-4'-thio-β-thymidine ([18F]3) were synthesized by click chemistry from [18F]fluoroethyl azide and by direct nucleophilic substitution of a tosylate precursor. Metabolic stability and phosphorylation potential of the radiotracers were evaluated in vitro and compared to [18F]FLT. Further, metabolic stability and biodistribution analysis of [18F]2 and [18F]3 were evaluated in vivo. Results: Stable isotope standards and radiochemistry precursors were synthesized by modification of existing literature procedures. [18F]2 and [18F]3 were synthesized in a radiochemical yield of 8%-12% (end of synthesis, non-decay corrected). Both nucleosides were stable to metabolic degradation by thymidine phosphorylase, and in vivo stability analysis showed only one metabolite for [18F]3. No phosphorylation of [18F]2 could be detected in HCT116 cell homogenates, and in the same assay, only minor (~8%) phosphorylation of [18F]3 was observed. Biodistribution in Balb/c mice indicated rapid clearance for [18F]2 and [18F]3 to a lesser extent. Conclusions: The favorable biodistribution and metabolic profile of [18F]3 warrant further investigation as a next-generation PET proliferation marker.
AB - Introduction: Uncontrolled proliferation is a fundamental characteristic of cancer, and consequently, imaging of tumor proliferative status finds interest clinically both as a diagnostic tool and for evaluation of response to treatment. Positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers based on a nucleoside core, such as 3'-[18F]fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine ([18F]FLT), have been extensively studied for this purpose. However, [18F]FLT suffers from poor DNA incorporation leading to occasional poor correlation of [18F]FLT tumor uptake with other proliferation indicators such as Ki-67 immunostaining. Methods: N3-((1-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-1H-[1,2,3]-triazol-4-yl)methyl)thymidine ([18F]2) and N3-((1-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-1H-[1,2,3]-triazol-4-yl)methyl)-4'-thio-β-thymidine ([18F]3) were synthesized by click chemistry from [18F]fluoroethyl azide and by direct nucleophilic substitution of a tosylate precursor. Metabolic stability and phosphorylation potential of the radiotracers were evaluated in vitro and compared to [18F]FLT. Further, metabolic stability and biodistribution analysis of [18F]2 and [18F]3 were evaluated in vivo. Results: Stable isotope standards and radiochemistry precursors were synthesized by modification of existing literature procedures. [18F]2 and [18F]3 were synthesized in a radiochemical yield of 8%-12% (end of synthesis, non-decay corrected). Both nucleosides were stable to metabolic degradation by thymidine phosphorylase, and in vivo stability analysis showed only one metabolite for [18F]3. No phosphorylation of [18F]2 could be detected in HCT116 cell homogenates, and in the same assay, only minor (~8%) phosphorylation of [18F]3 was observed. Biodistribution in Balb/c mice indicated rapid clearance for [18F]2 and [18F]3 to a lesser extent. Conclusions: The favorable biodistribution and metabolic profile of [18F]3 warrant further investigation as a next-generation PET proliferation marker.
KW - Click chemistry
KW - Fluorine-18
KW - Nucleosides
KW - Proliferation
KW - [F]FLT
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U2 - 10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2011.12.002
DO - 10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2011.12.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 22321533
AN - SCOPUS:84862809233
VL - 39
SP - 652
EP - 665
JO - International journal of radiation applications and instrumentation. Part B, Nuclear medicine and biology
JF - International journal of radiation applications and instrumentation. Part B, Nuclear medicine and biology
SN - 0969-8051
IS - 5
ER -